


In Sync

by issiefrancis



Series: Life Isn't Pretty [4]
Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Menstruation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-20 15:26:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9498269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/issiefrancis/pseuds/issiefrancis
Summary: Syncing up is one of the less-fun staples of lesbian life, unlike U-Hauls and excessive numbers of cats.We're back with more period fluff, my friends.





	1. Chapter 1

Erin is woken in the early hours of the morning by Holtzmann rolling out of bed. It can't be later than two or three am. "'s too early for inventing, Jilly," she slurs out, still mostly asleep.

"Just gotta pee," Holtz reassures her. That's weird. Holtzmann normally sleeps like the dead for five hours, going to bed later than Erin and waking up earlier than her.

Erin yawns, and she's falling back asleep when Holtzmann flicks the bathroom light on. She groans. They have an agreement to keep the lights off at night, mainly for Erin's benefit.

She can hear the sounds of ripping and buries her head in her pillow. When Holtz opens up the bathroom door without turning off the light, she growls in annoyance and sits up. "Holtz, will you turn off that god-awful light? 'm trying to sleep."

"Gimme a minute," Holtz says petulantly, going to the dresser.

"C'mon, we talked about this." Erin mutters. "Can you please just turn it off?"

"I'll only be a minute," Holtz yawns. "Got my period, is all. Need drugs."

"Oh." Erin covers her eyes and flops back undercovers, then pops back upright. "You didn't-" she yanks the duvet off on Holtz's side.

"Nah, just the cramps," Holtz replies, obviously already grouchy. "It's _fine_. Just give me five minutes."

"'Kay," Erin says, snuggling back under the duvet properly this time. Holtzmann joins her in bed a few moments later, and Erin rolls over and rubs her lower back until she falls asleep again.

***

When Erin's alarm goes off later in the morning, she's surprised to find Holtzmann still in bed. She's normally awake at least two hours before Erin. She's curled in the fetal position, facing away from Erin.

"Holtz?" Erin shakes her. "Time to get up. We gotta go to work."

"Go 'way, Mom," Holtz slurs, opening one eye.

Erin stills her hand, surprised.

Then Holtz focusses on her and blushes. "Sorry, Er." Holtz blinks.

"You okay, Jilly?"

"Hurts," she murmurs. Erin snuggles up close to her, massaging her stomach gently.

"We have to get up."

"I don't wanna," Holtz says. 

"I know, baby." Erin nuzzles her shoulder. "We can knock off early. Watch some movies. I'll make dinner. But you really do have to fix Abby's proton pack."

"I kno-ow… I just feel crappy. Please, can I just…?" Holtzmann groans.

"I know. But Abby's pack." There is _so much_ to do at the firehouse. Jennifer's been chasing them all – including Holtzmann, who's the ultimate shirker – on paperwork, and Abby's proton pack had practically been destroyed in the last bust.

"It'll keep til tomorrow." Holtz rolls onto her back and presses both palms into her stomach.

"I'd better get ready. I'll bring you some breakfast, okay?" As she makes her way to the kitchen, Erin pulls the painkillers from the dresser and puts them on the bedside table. "Take some, you'll feel at least a little better."

Holtzmann grunts in response. Erin makes toast for her and brings it to bed.

"I'm not really hungry," Holtzmann says, screwing up her nose and going pale.

"You have to eat something."

"I feel really sick." Erin puts a hand on her lower back, ready to help her to the bathroom, but Holtzmann just puts her head between her knees and lets out a groan. "Can you take away the food smell?"

Erin obliges. When she comes back, she pats her girlfriend on the back and says, "You can have the shower first, Holtzy. C'mon."  

Holtzmann spends a solid half hour in the bathroom. Erin hears a bit of retching. When she comes out, her hair is in a loose bun and she's wearing sweatpants and a plain t-shirt. "Don't fucking say a word." She holds up a finger in warning to Erin, who's about to start laughing. Erin shrugs, miming zipping her lips. Holtzmann flips her off.

The subway ride is hell. Holtzmann leans on Erin's shoulder the whole time and keeps up a steady stream of updates on her symptoms.

"My back hurts."

"Mmm, I know, honey," Erin says, rubbing her back gently.

"And I have a headache. And I feel sick. And my hip is aching? How weird is _that_? And I'm bloated. Can you feel that?"

Erin groans. "You're starting to give _me_ a headache."

Holtzmann pouts.

Neither of them are in the best space when they get to work. When they walk in, Patty is about to question Holtzmann's outfit when she catches the shake from Erin. Sure that Holtz can't see her, she mouths, "That time of the month," to Patty.

"I heard that," Holtzmann says, flipping her off as she climbs the stairs to the lab with a loud groan.

"I didn't say anything."

"I have supersonic hearing."

"Okay, but I still didn't make noise." Erin is smiling; it's nice to joke a little.

"Fuck you, Erin." All three of the women are surprised by the venom in Holtz's voice.

Abby and Patty share a look.

Erin goes to follow Holtz and apologise.

"Don't bother, E. She'll be over it in five minutes, anyway," Abby says.

Erin shrugs half-heartedly. "Still… She's my girlfriend." Honestly, she's sort of had it up to here with Holtz's antics. Her headache's getting worse.  

"Not for much longer if you keep talking about me behind my back!" At this, Erin puts up her hands and flops down on her desk, pinching the bridge of her nose to stop herself responding.

"She's literally a floor above us, how is she doin' that?" Patty glances up at the ceiling.

"It's okay, I have a terminal illness."

Abby and Patty both shrug at each other, and Erin puts her head on her desk. Fantastic. Feels like it might be a migraine.

There's not a peep from the lab for the rest of the day. Abby and Patty stay silent, but Erin's pretty sure they're texting each other. _Probably betting on how long before I kill Holtzmann. Or vice versa._

***

Halfway through the day, Holtz lets out a loud _aghhhhhh_ of frustration and stomps down the stairs. "I'm going home. It's not working. I hate it. I hate you. I hate life."

Before Erin can even respond, Holtzmann has slammed the door on the three of them. Erin winces as the sound lances straight through her head.

Abby bursts into laughter. "Oh, have fun, Er."

"Fuck off, Abby," Erin grimaces.

"You better go home, girl," Patty adds. Abby and Patty raise their eyebrows simultaneously.

"Fine." Erin stretches as she stands up. "I'm going to procrastinate for as long as possible, though," she warns them. First, she tidies her desk, checks their email, tidies the kitchen. Finally, she goes to the bathroom before she heads home.

 _Fucking fantastic_. Her own period is exactly what she doesn't need right now.

"Abby, where the fuck are all our pads?" she yells.

"Holtz used them all like a week ago," she gets back.

"She didn't have her period last week, in case you didn't notice!" Erin sasses through the door.

"No, I mean, she used them on something in the lab. Something about superior ectoplasm absorption," Abby explains. Patty lets out a hoot of laughter.

Erin groans and raises a middle finger at the pair of them. "It's not funny. See you guys later."


	2. Cupcakes

On her way home, Erin is _pissed_. Holtzmann has been a right _bitch_ all day. And she's promised to make dinner, so she has to do that as well. She groans out loud, rubbing her temple as she fumbles the door open. To stop herself from exploding the second she gets inside, she doesn't even seek out her girlfriend, instead going straight to the kitchen. Looking at their well-stocked cupboards, she wants to cry. If they had no food, she could just order in.

Holtzmann leans on the doorway, holding a heating pad to her stomach. "You too, huh?"

"Me too, what?" Erin snaps.  

"Your period." She beckons to Erin, smiling gently. "C'mon, don't worry about dinner. We can order in when it's actually dinnertime. Come cuddle."

"But-" Erin's angry. She wants to yell at Holtz; she was all geared up for a fight when she got home, but now Holtz is being all understanding and it's thrown her off. But, god, her stomach is aching and she just wants to lie down and cuddle her girlfriend, principles be damned. She sighs, still pouting.

"Stop being so stubborn." Holtzmann wraps her arms around Erin from behind, cuddling her, rubbing a thumb across the swell of her stomach. All the fight goes out of her.

"'m sorry," Erin murmurs.

"I get it," Holtz says.

"Can we just lie down?" Erin groans again, this time pinching the bridge of her nose.

Holtzmann pulls her towards the couch but Erin shakes her head. "Bedroom? I just want to sleep and never wake up."

"Why, Erin Gilbert-" Holtzmann is smirking.

"Cut it out, Holtz." Erin rolls her eyes.

"Alri-ight."

Erin trudges to the bedroom, one hand rubbing her lower back to try and relieve the pressure. Holtzmann follows her, uncharacteristically silent. Erin flops into bed and pulls the covers over herself, fully dressed.

"Er, that tweed can't be good for the cramps. Here." Holtz fishes through the dresser and throws sweatpants and a t-shirt on the bed. " _I_ dressed for the occasion this morning."  

Erin lets out a moan.  

"C'mon, you'll feel better in the long run," Holtz wheedles. "I'll give you a massage."

Erin eyes her suspiciously. "Why are you being all nice now? You've been an asshole all day."

Holtzmann suddenly looks sheepish. "I'm sorry, Er. I just… forget that you might feel bad too, so I take it out on you. I'm trying to make it up to you, okay?"

Erin nods, not wanting to pursue it any further. "We're a right mess, aren't we?"

Holtzmann nods, pulling out another heating pad from the wardrobe. "You want one?"

"Please." Erin rolls over.

"Gotta put the sweatpants on first." Holtzmann waggles a finger and Erin finally cracks a smile. "Good girl."

Erin flips Holtzmann off as she undresses to panties and then puts on the sweatpants and a loose singlet. "Out of interest, what did you do with all the pads at work?"

Holtz gestures to the bed and Erin crawls back under the covers with a groan. She accepts the heating pad with a grimace of thanks and presses it to her lower back.

"Here, I can do it." Holtzmann manoeuvres herself onto the bed with a wince, still holding one heating pad to her own stomach, and presses the other against Erin's back. "I was going to make an anti-ectoplasm suit for you."

"You thought the solution to the slime plague was for me to wear sanitary pad armour?" Erin raises an eyebrow. They stare at each other for a moment and then they're lost to giggles. Holtzmann is actually crying with laughter by the time Erin shakes her head. "I'm not going to be a walking Kotex ad. But the thought was nice."

Holtz giggles. "You're already a walking Kotex ad, have you seen the bathroom cupboard?"

"They make good stuff. Also that webseries was good," Erin says defensively.

" _Carmilla_? You watched _Carmilla_ , and then stocked our bathroom cupboard with every U by Kotex product under the sun? Erin, you're such a capitalist."

"I'm _sorry_!"

Holtzmann giggles into her shoulder. "Hey, Erin?"

"Mmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Jilly." Erin reaches backwards and finds her hand. "Sorry for not listening to you this morning."

"Sorry for being such a bitch."

They both let out a huff of laughter. Holtz whispers, "Can I tell you a secret?"

"I don't think I could stop you if I tried." Erin kisses her hand.

"I got your favourite cupcakes on the way home."

Erin squeaks. "Really?"

"I knew you'd be feeling shitty because of your period, so…" Holtz grins, obviously proud of herself.

Erin smiles and snuggles closer, kissing Holtz's collarbone. Then something occurs to her. "How did you know about my period?" Erin raises an eyebrow. It _had_ happened after Holtz left, after all.

Holtzmann blushes all of a sudden. "Um- Lucky guess?"

Erin scrunches up her nose, knowing exactly where this is going but relishing the way her girlfriend is squirming. "Jillian Holtzmann."

"I, um, maybe, this app-" Holtzmann is stuttering.

"Do you track my cycle? Holtzmann!"

"It's scientific data!"

Erin raises her other eyebrow to match. "That's kind of an invasion of privacy."

"We live together!" Holtzmann rolls her eyes. Noting Erin's unimpressed look, she relents. "Okay, fine. I wanted to know when to tiptoe around. And when to restock the bathroom cupboard and that. It was just practical. I'm sorry."

Erin shrugs, enjoying the way Holtzmann is blushing.

"Want a cupcake?" She leans forward and kisses Erin's neck and then up to her ear. Erin moans and scrunches up her nose.

"Fi-ine," Erin sighs, immediately forgiving her. She tries to keep the smile off her lips as Holtzmann goes to the kitchen, then comes back with a paper bag.

"Red velvet," she wheedles. "Here you go, baby."

"Thank you," Erin says. "It's not like you'd ever not know anyway, what with the fact that we live together and shop together and-"

"Have mind-blowing lady sex together…" Holtzmann grins.

Erin slaps her wrist lightly.

"I know. Easier to have reminders though."

"How's your stomach? You said you were feeling sick before."

"I'm feeling better. Don't know if it was something I ate or my period."

"Want a cupcake?" Erin licks some frosting off one of hers. "I'd like to point out that you also got your favourite, so this was hardly just a treat for me."

"You didn't have to wait in line for twenty minutes. With that long a wait, why wouldn't I get both?" Holtzmann says defensively.

"I'm kidding, baby. Shut up and spoon me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment please my lovelies <3

**Author's Note:**

> I did consider making the title "N-Sync" but I thought that would be going a step too far ;)  
> I had to write SOMETHING to counteract all the angst hahaha. Hope you enjoy <3


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